JESSE WELCH is a Chicago slam poet currently residing in Pittsburgh. He is the director of Young Steel, Pittsburgh's award-winning youth poetry slam, and the co-founder of the Nasty Slam, Pittsburgh’s Head-to-Head deathmatch slam. Once the 28th ranked slam poet internationally, he represented Young Chicago Authors at National Poetry Slam (NPS) 2009, Seattle Poetry Slam at NPS 2013 as the Seattle Poetry Slam Grand Slam Champion, and Pittsburgh at NPS 2015. He has been performing his poetry since he was 12 years old, and appears in the award-winning documentary Louder Than A Bomb.